Attitudes to Stem Cell Therapy Among Ischemic Stroke Survivors in the Lund Stroke Recovery Study.

Preclinical studies suggest that stem cell therapy (SCT) may improve poststroke recovery, and clinical trials investigating safety are ongoing. However, knowledge about patients' attitudes to SCT in stroke is limited. We evaluated the knowledge and attitudes to this therapeutic approach as well as possible factors influencing this among stroke patients potentially suitable for SCT.

Fibrinolysis inhibitors in plaque stability: a morphological association of PAI-1 and TAFI in advanced carotid plaque.

Unlabelled: Essentials Fibrinolysis inhibitors are localized in advanced atheroma by immunohistology of endarterectomies. Neovascular endothelium/neocapillaries show thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI). Macrophage areas show free plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1), notably in the vulnerable part.

Non-permanent atrial fibrillation and oral anticoagulant therapy are related to survival during 10years after first-ever ischemic stroke.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) detection in ischemic stroke patients triggers initiation of oral anticoagulant therapy (OAC). However, little is known regarding whether the persistency of AF affects long-term prognosis after ischemic stroke. We aimed to assess the impact of AF types and OAC on the outcome during a 10-year follow-up (FU) after first-ever ischemic stroke.

Genetic variation at 16q24.2 is associated with small vessel stroke.

Objective: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been successful at identifying associations with stroke and stroke subtypes, but have not yet identified any associations solely with small vessel stroke (SVS). SVS comprises one quarter of all ischemic stroke and is a major manifestation of cerebral small vessel disease, the primary cause of vascular cognitive impairment. Studies across neurological traits have shown that younger-onset cases have an increased genetic burden.

Cognitive function in stroke survivors: A 10-year follow-up study.

Objectives: Post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) has considerable impact on patients and society. However, long-term studies on PSCI are scarce and may be influenced by assessment methods and selection bias. We aimed to (i) assess the prevalence of long-term PSCI; (ii) compare two common cognitive assessment instruments; and (iii) compare cognitive function of long-term stroke survivors with non-stroke persons.

Risk of Shunting After Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: A Collaborative Study and Initiation of a Consortium.

Background And Purpose: Shunt dependent hydrocephalus after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is a common sequela that may lead to poor neurological outcome and predisposes to various interventions, admissions, and complications. We reviewed post-aSAH shunt dependency in a population-based sample and tested the feasibility of a clinical risk score to identify subgroups of aSAH patients with increasing risk of shunting for hydrocephalus.

Methods: A total of 1533 aSAH patients from the population-based Eastern Finland Saccular Intracranial Aneurysm Database (Kuopio, Finland) were used in a recursive partitioning analysis to identify risk factors for shunting after aSAH.

Applicability of Clinical Trials in an Unselected Cohort of Patients With Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Background And Purpose: Patient selection in clinical trials on intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) affects overall applicability of results. We estimated eligibility for completed, ongoing, and planned clinical trials in an unselected cohort of patients with ICH.

Methods: Large clinical ICH trials were identified using trial registration databases.

Proliferation of Perivascular Macrophages Contributes to the Development of Encephalitic Lesions in HIV-Infected Humans and in SIV-Infected Macaques.

The aim of the present study was to investigate if macrophage proliferation occurs in the brain during simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection of adult macaques. We examined the expression of the Ki-67 proliferation marker in the brains of uninfected and SIV-infected macaques with or without encephalitis. Double-label immunohistochemistry using antibodies against the pan-macrophage marker CD68 and Ki-67 showed that there was a significant increase in CD68+Ki-67+ cells in macaques with SIV encephalitis (SIVE) compared to uninfected and SIV-infected animals without encephalitis, a trend that was also confirmed in brain samples from patients with HIV encephalitis.

Experiences of incontinence and pelvic floor muscle training after gynaecologic cancer treatment.

Purpose: The purpose of the present study is to describe how gynaecological cancer survivors (GCS) experience incontinence in relation to quality of life, their possibilities for physical activity and exercise and their perceptions and experiences of pelvic floor muscle training.

Method: This qualitative interview content analysis study included 13 women (48-82 age) with urinary (n = 10) or faecal (n = 3) incontinence after radiation therapy (n = 2), surgery (n = 5) and surgery and radiation therapy (n = 6) for gynaecological cancer, 0.5-21 years ago.

Rivaroxaban for secondary stroke prevention in patients with embolic strokes of undetermined source: Design of the NAVIGATE ESUS randomized trial.

Background: Embolic strokes of undetermined source comprise up to 20% of ischemic strokes. The stroke recurrence rate is substantial with aspirin, widely used for secondary prevention. The New Approach riVaroxaban Inhibition of Factor Xa in a Global trial versus ASA to prevenT Embolism in Embolic Stroke of Undetermined Source international trial will compare the efficacy and safety of rivaroxaban, an oral factor Xa inhibitor, versus aspirin for secondary prevention in patients with recent embolic strokes of undetermined source.

Antidepressant Use After Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: A Population-Based Case-Control Study.

Background And Purpose: To elucidate the predictors of antidepressant use after subarachnoid hemorrhage from saccular intracranial aneurysm (sIA-SAH) in a population-based cohort with matched controls.

Methods: The Kuopio sIA database includes all unruptured and ruptured sIA cases admitted to the Kuopio University Hospital from its defined catchment population in Eastern Finland, with 3 matched controls for each patient. The use of all prescribed medicines has been fused from the Finnish national registry of prescribed medicines.

Life on the Edge-the Biology of Organisms Inhabiting Extreme Environments: An Introduction to the Symposium.

Life persists, even under extremely harsh conditions. While the existence of extremophiles is well known, the mechanisms by which these organisms evolve, perform basic metabolic functions, reproduce, and survive under extreme physical stress are often entirely unknown. Recent technological advances in terms of both sampling and studying extremophiles have yielded new insight into their evolution, physiology and behavior, from microbes and viruses to plants to eukaryotes.

Exome array analysis of ischaemic stroke: results from a southern Swedish study.

Background And Purpose: Genome-wide association (GWA) studies have identified a few risk loci for ischaemic stroke, but these variants explain only a small part of the genetic contribution to the disease. Coding variants associated with amino acid substitutions or premature termination of protein synthesis could have a large effect on disease risk. We performed an exome array analysis for ischaemic stroke.

Endotoxin in Size-Separated Metal Working Fluid Aerosol Particles.

Patients with airway symptoms working in metal working industries are increasing, despite efforts to improve the environmental air surrounding the machines. Our aim was to analyse the amount of endotoxin in size-separated airborne particles of metal working fluid (MWF) aerosol, by using the personal sampler Sioutas cascade impactor, to compare filter types, and to compare the concentration of airborne endotoxin to that of the corresponding MWFs. In a pilot field study, aerosols were collected in two separate machine halls on totally 10 occasions, using glass fibre and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) filters in parallel at each station.

Irregular Shape of Intracranial Aneurysm Indicates Rupture Risk Irrespective of Size in a Population-Based Cohort.

Background And Purpose: Size and shape of saccular intracranial aneurysms (sIA) reflect the condition of the sIA wall and were risk factors for rupture in previous follow-up studies. We investigated how well size or shape identify rupture-prone sIAs.

Methods: In a population-based registry, we investigated the characteristics of ruptured sIAs treated in a single neurosurgical center (1980-2014).

De Novo Aneurysm Formation in Carriers of Saccular Intracranial Aneurysm Disease in Eastern Finland.

Background And Purpose: Formation of new (de novo) aneurysms in patients carrying saccular intracranial aneurysm (sIA) disease has been published, but data from population-based cohorts are scarce.

Methods: Kuopio sIA database (http://www.uef.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus with mecC: a description of 45 human cases in southern Sweden.

In 2011, a novel mecA gene homologue, mecC, was reported in isolates from both humans and dairy cattle. The epidemiology of mecC methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in humans is not yet well known. In this retrospective study, we present the epidemiology of human clinical cases with mecC MRSA detected in the southern part of Sweden during the period 2005-2014.

Low-frequency and common genetic variation in ischemic stroke: The METASTROKE collaboration.

Objective: To investigate the influence of common and low-frequency genetic variants on the risk of ischemic stroke (all IS) and etiologic stroke subtypes.

Methods: We meta-analyzed 12 individual genome-wide association studies comprising 10,307 cases and 19,326 controls imputed to the 1000 Genomes (1 KG) phase I reference panel. We selected variants showing the highest degree of association (p < 1E-5) in the discovery phase for replication in Caucasian (13,435 cases and 29,269 controls) and South Asian (2,385 cases and 5,193 controls) samples followed by a transethnic meta-analysis.

Long-Term Predictors of Social and Leisure Activity 10 Years after Stroke.

Background: Restrictions in social and leisure activity can have negative consequences for the health and well-being of stroke survivors. To support the growing number of people who are ageing with stroke, knowledge is needed about factors that influence such activity in a long-term perspective.

Aim: To identify long-term predictors of the frequency of social and leisure activities 10 years after stroke.

A stop-codon of the phosphodiesterase 11A gene is associated with elevated blood pressure and measures of obesity.

Objective: To identify stop-codon variants associated with blood pressure (BP).

Methods: Illumina exome chip was genotyped in 5453 individuals of the population-based Malmö Diet and Cancer Study. We compared BP levels between carriers and noncarriers of all stop-codon variants found in at least 10 individuals and characterized these further based on literature evidence of functionality.

A Designed Inhibitor of p53 Aggregation Rescues p53 Tumor Suppression in Ovarian Carcinomas.

Half of all human cancers lose p53 function by missense mutations, with an unknown fraction of these containing p53 in a self-aggregated amyloid-like state. Here we show that a cell-penetrating peptide, ReACp53, designed to inhibit p53 amyloid formation, rescues p53 function in cancer cell lines and in organoids derived from high-grade serous ovarian carcinomas (HGSOC), an aggressive cancer characterized by ubiquitous p53 mutations. Rescued p53 behaves similarly to its wild-type counterpart in regulating target genes, reducing cell proliferation and increasing cell death.

Improving the likelihood of neurology patients being examined using patient feedback.

We aimed to establish whether recall of elements of the neurological examination can be improved by use of a simple patient assessment score. In a previous study we demonstrated that in-patients referred to neurology at two United Kingdom (UK) hospitals were not fully examined prior to referral; we therefore designed a larger quality improvement report with 80% power to detect a 10% increase in tendon hammer or ophthalmoscope use following an educational intervention. In-patients referred to neurology over a four month period (in hospitals in the UK (10), Jordan (1), Sweden (2), and the United Arab Emirates (1)) were asked whether they recalled being examined with a tendon hammer (T), ophthalmoscope (O), and stethoscope (S) since admission.

Genome-Wide Association Analysis of Young-Onset Stroke Identifies a Locus on Chromosome 10q25 Near HABP2.

Background And Purpose: Although a genetic contribution to ischemic stroke is well recognized, only a handful of stroke loci have been identified by large-scale genetic association studies to date. Hypothesizing that genetic effects might be stronger for early- versus late-onset stroke, we conducted a 2-stage meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies, focusing on stroke cases with an age of onset <60 years.

Methods: The discovery stage of our genome-wide association studies included 4505 cases and 21 968 controls of European, South-Asian, and African ancestry, drawn from 6 studies.